Historically speaking, I have always been much more interested in film than television (with the obvious exception of classic Saturday morning cartoons). However, there is the occasional small-screen treasure (such as Arrested Development, Entourage, and The Office) that grabs my attention and just refuses to let go.
I recently discovered a rather risqué series that grabbed my attention with the same class and charisma as an angry, washed-up jock grabbing his crotch during the seventh-inning stretch.
Eastbound & Down is an irreverent, comedic masterpiece starring Danny McBride as a former professional athlete, who after a disappointing career is forced to return to his hometown middle-school in Shelby, North Carolina, and suffer employment as a substitute physical education teacher.
McBride plays Kenny Powers, a former Major League fastball pitcher ousted due to egomania, substance abuse, and some very politically incorrect comments about his teammates. Now Kenny finds himself back in his hometown, living with his older brother and furious at himself because he's seriously considering a job as a P.E. teacher at the local middle school.
Playing arrogance and ignorance as likable qualities is McBride's secret weapon as a comic, and characters don't get any more arrogant than Kenny. He's a nonstop offender, coming on to the art teacher, an old flame currently engaged to the clueless principal, and arranging for the services of a prostitute on the phone in his brother's living room, shocking his sister-in-law with his very specific sexual demands.
What elevates Eastbound & Down above mere intolerant, bigoted gutter humor is McBride's ongoing love affair with the lower-middle class. He revels in getting all the details right, from his brother's cramped suburban house to the seedy bar where Kenny drinks boilermakers in the front and inhales cocaine in the storage room. Plus, you've just got to love a sitcom that uses the Freddie King version of Don Nix's great, stormy, blues-rocker, ''Going Down,'' as a theme song.
Although not for the pious or faint of heart, I believe Eastbound & Down is a winner about a real loser.
Until next time…
JP
